Automated Assembly Systems

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BEIJING—Chinese manufacturers are increasingly investing in robotics to overcome the challenges of rising labor costs and fierce competition from emerging nations in South and Southeast Asia.

CARLSBAD, CA—Systems integrator Automation GT has built a multistation automated assembly system to make syringes. Designed for use in a Class 10,000 clean room, the system includes robots, vision systems and dispensing equipment.

STONY BROOK, NY—Before the faucet maker RSS Manufacturing & Phylrich installed a machine-tending robot, processing 1,500 units on a tube bender using manual labor would take three days. With the robot, the same job takes four hours.

IOWA CITY, IA—Automation enables the Oral-B assembly plant here to produce 1 million toothbrushes daily.

SAITAMA, Japan—People and humanoid robots are working side by side on an assembly line at an assembly plant here that makes money-handling machines.

Sitting under the hood of every new car—and many older cars made since 1990—is the engine control module (ECM). Often referred to as “the car’s computer,” it usually employs the most powerful and expensive microcontroller in the vehi-cle.

BEIJING—Foxconn Technology is on track with its goal to a create a “million robot army,” and it already has 20,000 robots in its factories.

EVANSVILLE, IN—Systems integrator Evana Automation has received a multiyear contract from a Tier 1 automotive supplier to provide six custom assembly and test systems that will simplify the production of automobile steering assemblies.

PLEASANTON, CA—Adept Technology Inc. has received $2.6 million robot order from Castec International Corp. in Taiwan. The robots will be used in high-precision workcells to produce subassemblies for smart phones.

EVANSVILLE, IN—Systems integrator Evana Automation Specialists recently delivered a clutch assembly line to American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. The line integrates both fully and semiautomatic processes.